Pugazh review: Jai, Surabhi's film is out-and-out arid

Pugazh follows the story of the eponymous hero (Jai), who is
injustice-intolerant. He is like Ratchagan's Nagarjuna, only that he
doesn't get those varicose veins whenever he gets angry.

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Kirubhakar Purushothaman

New Delhi

March 19, 2016

UPDATED: March 19, 2016 13:18 IST

Pugazh film poster

Director:Manimaran

Cast: Jai, Surabhi, Karunas, RJ Balaji

Rating: (2.5/5)

Half an hour into Jai's new outing Pugazh, you would have realised you've seen the film numerous times in Tamil with different heroes at different stages of your life. But somehow, these decades-old scripts survive and thrive in Kodambakkam.

Pugazh follows the story of the eponymous hero, who is injustice-intolerant. He is like Ratchagan's Nagarjuna, only that he doesn't get those varicose veins whenever he gets angry. Apart from that, he is a goody-good boy. He mans the family flower shop from 4.30 in the morning, does the needful for his street. He is the one to call the lineman to get the street electric line fixed. So when he asks the people to elect his friend as the area councillor, there are no second thoughts. And he holds a piece of playground in his community close to heart, and when the area's chairman and a minister try to grab it, the plot thickens.

The film is dull and arid throughout. We get to see only five places throughout the film - Pugazh's home, his street, his shop, a quarry and the ground. The camera keeps jolting among these places and one begins to start noticing the colour of the fridge and the mixer in the background to keep oneself engaged.

Coming to the performance, Jai is the only consoling factor of the film, and finally, he is out of his I-am-afraid-of-my-girlfriend roles. The rest of the characters are verbose. They talk more than they act. And Jai's uncle is the worst of them all. Whenever he shows up on the screen, what follows is either a history lesson or a philosophy one or one of those subjects that will send you to sleep in seconds. The songs composed by Vivek-Mervin are no saviours either. Not even one song stays with you till the end.

There are a very few elements in the film which might grab your attention, like the romance between Jai and Bhuvana (though Surabhi is cast terribly in the girl-next-door role. She looks like an uber-glamorous model, for god's sake!), those details about how even the chairman of an area finds it hard to buy a bike for his son, the importance of a playground for any community, but these get buried deep in Manimaran's bland screenplay.

The last twenty minutes of the film test your patience. HR managers can play the last portion of the film instead of a stress interview. Hire anyone who survives the excruciating pain without showing any sign of disgust.

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